Battle of 1812 gold ship rumor

[gillious]

When I was a teen I heard a rumor about a gold ship that went down not far from the southern shore of Lake Ontario in NY state . Supposedly the ship left Sackets Harbor and sank In a bad storm . Sadly if I understand NY state law anything that would be recovered belongs to the state. Is anybody familiar with this story. I think I have a good starting place to look for this wreck. If anybody is interested I would be happy to share what I know.

 

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[traveller777]

When I was a teen I heard a rumor about a gold ship that went down not far from the southern shore of Lake Ontario in NY state . Supposedly the ship left Sackets Harbor and sank In a bad storm . Sadly if I understand NY state law anything that would be recovered belongs to the state. Is anybody familiar with this story. I think I have a good starting place to look for this wreck. If anybody is interested I would be happy to share what I know.

I would think somebody who dives would be at least interested enough to hear your story.

 

[gillious]

When I was a teen I heard a rumor about a gold ship that went down not far from the southern shore of Lake Ontario in NY state . Supposedly the ship left Sackets Harbor and sank In a bad storm . Sadly if I understand NY state law anything that would be recovered belongs to the state. Is anybody familiar with this story. I think I have a good starting place to look for this wreck. If anybody is interested I would be happy to share what I know.

So when I was a teen there was a large submerged boulder probably 15 ft around and about 100yds off shore that when the water was low quite a few of us kids would go hang out on it and swim from it. I was free diving off the side of it after a bad storm and saw what I believed to be a mast. I followed it down to my very limited diving ability. 35ish years ago that rock was located on the very edge of a huge drop-off. The top of the mast was in roughly 35 ft of water just north of that big Rock and followed the ledge down. I spoke to an old reasonably successful treasure hunter from Syracuse NY that had a detector shop and casually asked if he knew of any old boat wrecks between Fairhaven NY and Sodus NY. I vaguely described the location to him. The more I told him the more interested he became. He told me about the pay ship that left Sackets Harbor and how it was supposed to have run aground during a bad storm. The ship was hugging the shore line looking for a safe place to ride out the storm presumably Sodus Bay. The ship was close enough to shore that at least most of the crew if not all of it swam to shore. By the time the storm was over the ship had been drug under beyond the means of recovery for the time. It was mostly forgotten about. From the story and other I formation I have found the area near what is now Chimney Bluff state park would be a good place to look if someone was interested in finding the wreck. Given the location it has most likely been buried by the eroding bluffs. And with NY laws being what they are the only reward would be being the one that found it.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

just looked at a map of sodus (was there 2 years ago to get pics of the lighthouses for my wifes collection.) , that would be a nice one to go after, close to harbor, fairly small search area, lots of interesting canyons in those shore areas that it could be in

 

[traveller777]

just looked at a map of sodus (was there 2 years ago to get pics of the lighthouses for my wifes collection.) , that would be a nice one to go after, close to harbor, fairly small search area, lots of interesting canyons in those shore areas that it could be in

So, does that mean you are interested enough to pursue with gilliouse? I like to think still some big finds out there. If you guys pursue, I hope you find a fortune. But one thing bothers me. If most of the crew survived and it is in that shallow of water, even back then salvage likely would have been possible.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

dont know, im about 6 hours south of there, might be something possible in future, i still have a proton mag and a towed camera

salvage might not have been as easy, with the war on, (since the ship is supposed to have come from sackets harbor, that means its american) british ships must have been constantly thru the area, since they owned canada and sodus bay is in a fairly open area of the lake. it would have been easy for the british fleet to pounce on an anchored salvage ship

 

[traveller777]

dont know, im about 6 hours south of there, might be something possible in future, i still have a proton mag and a towed camera

salvage might not have been as easy, with the war on, (since the ship is supposed to have come from sackets harbor, that means its american) british ships must have been constantly thru the area, since they owned canada and sodus bay is in a fairly open area of the lake. it would have been easy for the british fleet to pounce on an anchored salvage ship

True that. But war only lasted little under 3 years and was over in February 1815.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

the salvage diving of that era was still mainly free divers or from a lowered bell.by the time heavy gear came onto the scene, this wreck location was probably forgotten

 

[traveller777]

the salvage diving of that era was still mainly free divers or from a lowered bell.by the time heavy gear came onto the scene, this wreck location was probably forgotten

The best of luck if you go after it.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

it might be buried like gilliouse suggested being that close to the shore in those narrow canyons

 

[gillious]

So, does that mean you are interested enough to pursue with gilliouse? I like to think still some big finds out there. If you guys pursue, I hope you find a fortune. But one thing bothers me. If most of the crew survived and it is in that shallow of water, even back then salvage likely would have been possible.

just looked at a map of sodus (was there 2 years ago to get pics of the lighthouses for my wifes collection.) , that would be a nice one to go after, close to harbor, fairly small search area, lots of interesting canyons in those shore areas that it could be in

If you decide to look for it let me know. I can take you to the exact location I was in. I'm no diver but I'd be happy to do what I could to help point you in the direction.

 

[njcommercialdiver]

If you decide to look for it let me know. I can take you to the exact location I was in. I'm no diver but I'd be happy to do what I could to help point you in the direction.

might have to get together this summer. im gonna be up there for one of my wifes bowling tournaments in rochester in june

 

[gillious]

might have to get together this summer. im gonna be up there for one of my wifes bowling tournaments in rochester in june

Sounds like the perfect time. Just let me know. Depending how big your boat is I know of a public ramp much closer to the area at blind sodus Bay.

 

[UnderMiner]

When I was a teen I heard a rumor about a gold ship that went down not far from the southern shore of Lake Ontario in NY state . Supposedly the ship left Sackets Harbor and sank In a bad storm . Sadly if I understand NY state law anything that would be recovered belongs to the state. Is anybody familiar with this story. I think I have a good starting place to look for this wreck. If anybody is interested I would be happy to share what I know.

Lol, "belongs to the state". If you find a sunken ship full of gold that's your gold, the state doesn't have to know about it - and hey that would legally make you a pirate by default, win win.

 

[gldnbrew]

When I was a teen I heard a rumor about a gold ship that went down not far from the southern shore of Lake Ontario in NY state . Supposedly the ship left Sackets Harbor and sank In a bad storm . Sadly if I understand NY state law anything that would be recovered belongs to the state. Is anybody familiar with this story. I think I have a good starting place to look for this wreck. If anybody is interested I would be happy to share what I know.

What you have here is a good old-fashioned rumor. There are two similar rumors up on the St. Lawrence River regarding gold stuffed in cannons and thrown overboard to prevent captured by the enemy. As a local 1812 researcher for the past 12 years and have done intensive research in both the American and Canadian archives, ship logs, and countless other documents and can say I’ve never seen any documented use, or shipments of gold for military purposes on the northern border. What gold was available, the British used for their fight against Napoleon during the Napoleonic wars. Gold was available during the war of 1812, but it was not use for paying the troops. British troops were paid in pounds, shillings, and pence, and some cases a two dollar notes, issued by the Province of Upper Canada Army. pounds were paper notes, shillings were most likely silver, with the pence, being copper or bronze. The American troops were paid in whatever currency was available at the time or script, if they got paid at all. Pay, a lot of times was short coming for the Americans.
Being from Wayne County, are you interested in the battle of Sodus?

 

[gillious]

What you have here is a good old-fashioned rumor. There are two similar rumors up on the St. Lawrence River regarding gold stuffed in cannons and thrown overboard to prevent captured by the enemy. As a local 1812 researcher for the past 12 years and have done intensive research in both the American and Canadian archives, ship logs, and countless other documents and can say I’ve never seen any documented use, or shipments of gold for military purposes on the northern border. What gold was available, the British used for their fight against Napoleon during the Napoleonic wars. Gold was available during the war of 1812, but it was not use for paying the troops. British troops were paid in pounds, shillings, and pence, and some cases a two dollar notes, issued by the Province of Upper Canada Army. pounds were paper notes, shillings were most likely silver, with the pence, being copper or bronze. The American troops were paid in whatever currency was available at the time or script, if they got paid at all. Pay, a lot of times was short coming for the Americans.
Being from Wayne County, are you interested in the battle of Sodus?

Yes I am very interested. I'm about 12 miles due south of Sodus.

 

[gldnbrew]

Yes I am very interested. I'm about 12 miles due south of Sodus.

Let me dig around next week and find it. I have a pension file of a participant of the battle and if I remember correctly it’s several pages long. Message me with your email address so I can send it to you

 

[gillious]

Let me dig around next week and find it. I have a pension file of a participant of the battle and if I remember correctly it’s several pages long. Message me with your email address so I can send it to you

Thanks.

 

[bobinsd]

So when I was a teen there was a large submerged boulder probably 15 ft around and about 100yds off shore that when the water was low quite a few of us kids would go hang out on it and swim from it. I was free diving off the side of it after a bad storm and saw what I believed to be a mast. I followed it down to my very limited diving ability. 35ish years ago that rock was located on the very edge of a huge drop-off. The top of the mast was in roughly 35 ft of water just north of that big Rock and followed the ledge down. I spoke to an old reasonably successful treasure hunter from Syracuse NY that had a detector shop and casually asked if he knew of any old boat wrecks between Fairhaven NY and Sodus NY. I vaguely described the location to him. The more I told him the more interested he became. He told me about the pay ship that left Sackets Harbor and how it was supposed to have run aground during a bad storm. The ship was hugging the shore line looking for a safe place to ride out the storm presumably Sodus Bay. The ship was close enough to shore that at least most of the crew if not all of it swam to shore. By the time the storm was over the ship had been drug under beyond the means of recovery for the time. It was mostly forgotten about. From the story and other I formation I have found the area near what is now Chimney Bluff state park would be a good place to look if someone was interested in finding the wreck. Given the location it has most likely been buried by the eroding bluffs. And with NY laws being what they are the only reward would be being the one that found it.

I have a search and recover rov with a 300 foot tether that might be useful!

 

[bobinsd]

I have a search and recover rov with a 300 foot tether that might be useful!

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The ISARD1 Integrated Search and Recovery Device.